Naples City Council: It's not time for time limits on Fifth Avenue street parking

Landscaper Baldemar Lopez, with Eden Landscaping, distributes bougainvillea plants around Naples' newest parking structure, located at Eighth Street South and Sixth Avenue South, as workers apply the finishing touches on Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. The parking structure is scheduled to open at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday marking the end of a nearly $9 million project to provide more parking to Fifth Avenue South and the surrounding area. David Albers/ Staff

Sam Saad, III

Lise Sundrla has been hired as the new business improvement director for Fifth Avenue South. She had her first day of work on Monday June 06, 2011. Manuel Martinez/Staff

NAPLES - Naples city leaders say it's not time to put time limits on parking along Fifth Avenue South.

But that time could soon come.

Council members are growing tired of parking problems along and near the popular downtown street, especially during season, and could take action in a few months. But first, the Fifth Avenue South Business Improvement District, property owners and businesses will be given a chance to come up with a fast answer, working with city staff and the city's Community Revitalization Area Advisory Board.

City leaders at a workshop Monday directed staff to work with the Business Improvement District and others to come up with a solution to address the parking crunch before September, ahead of the next busy season.

"My patience is beginning to wear," Naples Mayor John Sorey said.

As long as the economy remains strong, he expects next season to be even busier than this one, bringing even greater challenges in an ongoing battle for parking between employees and visitors on the street, especially at peak times.

"Unless we have an event, the challenge at night is not nearly as much as it is in the daytime," Sorey said.

His choice, he said, isn't to regulate street parking in the Fifth Avenue area, but he has yet to see any other workable solution. Other council members shared his frustration, but supported giving business district leaders another chance.

"My feeling and the general feeling of the entire council is this is their last opportunity to fix this problem on their own," Councilman Sam Saad said after the workshop.

Speakers, including business owners along the street, overwhelmingly opposed the idea of parking time limits, saying it would put Fifth Avenue South at a disadvantage with other shopping and dining venues, like the mall, where there's plenty of parking and no such rules.

Aimee Schler, executive director of the Naples Art Association, felt the time limits would give off an unwelcoming vibe, saying, "We only want you here for a certain amount of time and then we want you to leave."

That's in conflict with the business district's marketing efforts, which have played up the street as a place to visit and stay from morning to night.

Lise Sundrla, the business district's executive director, said property owners have recognized the importance of getting involved in the issue, and they're looking for solutions. One such idea is to discourage employees from parking on the street through lease agreements and management.

More than 1,430 people work at businesses along the street Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the city encourages them to park on the upper floors of its two public garages. In the garages, there aren't time restrictions on the upper two floors, but there are two-hour limits on the first floor.

In the Fifth Avenue district, there are 2,162 parking spaces (1,029 private and 1,133 public).

"Surely, we can get this under control if we work together. But we really need to plan this action if we are going to take any action at all," Skip Quillen, the business district's president, told the council. He owns Culinary Concepts, with three restaurants on Fifth Avenue South.

One longtime Naples resident talked about the need to diversify the tenant mix on the street, suggesting there are too many restaurants and real estate offices, two businesses that generate heavy traffic, frustrating those who live nearby.

City leaders and meeting speakers mentioned a few possible solutions to the growing traffic problems on the street, including shuttling workers in from designated parking outside of the Fifth Avenue district and allowing more shared parking between businesses, with the city picking up the tab for the liability insurance.

For years, the business district has recommended the city build a third parking garage, but city leaders haven't acted on the suggestion, and the land the business group targeted on the west end of Fifth Avenue is no longer available, Sundrla said.

"So we have to identify more opportunities and really there aren't too many opportunities left," she said. "Any action that is taken needs to be taken sooner rather than later."

City Council asked staff members to study other downtown communities to see how they've handled similar parking issues and to bring the information back to them in the fall.

City leaders talked about some of the actions they've taken that appear to have only worsened the traffic problems on Fifth Avenue, from approving too many events to allowing restaurants to add outdoor dining without more parking — and how they might need to reconsider their approach to those decisions in the future. Parking requirements, in general, are less stringent for the street, which is meant to encourage redevelopment.

The parking shortage is only expected to get worse, as vacant office space fills up on Fifth Avenue.

"We have some upper story office space that is still available and as that gets leased over time, this parking issue, which is now mostly a seasonal one, could become year-round," Sundrla said.

While the city might not be ready to build another garage, a proposal to expand its public garage on Sixth Avenue South is on Wednesday's agenda.

The city has been offered property over top of a new commercial building, giving it the opportunity to add 116 spots. The city's purchase price for the space would be more than $1.24 million, with the total cost of the expansion project estimated at more than $4 million.

"The global issue here is you have employees, users, tourists, residents, all these people trying to use Fifth Avenue South and it's busy down there," Saad said. "There are a lot of people trying to get in there. We have to figure out how we are going to make it work."

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Posted earlier

Naples city leaders say it's not time to put time limits on parking along Fifth Avenue South.

But that time could soon come.

Council members are growing tired of parking problems along and near the popular downtown street, especially during season, and could take action soon, if the Fifth Avenue South Business Improvement District, property owners and businesses can't come up with a quick answer on their own.

At a workshop Monday, city leaders directed staff to work with landowners, tenants and the Business Improvement District, or BID, to come up with a solution to address the parking crunch before September, ahead of the next busy season.

"My patience is beginning to wear," said Naples Mayor John Sorey.

As long as the economy remains strong, he expects next season to be even busier than this one, bringing even greater challenges in a battle for parking between employees and visitors at peak times.

His choice, he said, would be not to regulate street parking in the area, but he has yet to see any other viable solution come forward. Other council members shared his frustration, but supported giving BID more time to work with others on a plan to better manage parking.

"Unless we have an event, the challenge at night is not nearly as much as it is in the daytime," Sorey said.

A handful of speakers opposed the time limits on parking, saying they'd put the street at a disadvantage with other shopping and dining venues, like the mall, where there's plenty of parking and no such restrictions.

Lise Sundrla, BID's executive director, said property owners are now recognizing the importance of getting involved in the issue, and they're looking to find solutions through lease agreements with their tenants, designed to keep employees from parking on the street.

Nearly 1,430 people work in business along the street, and many park directly on the street, rather than in the city's garages. In the garages, there are no time restrictions on the upper floors, but there are two-hour limits on the lower levels that are designated for visitors.